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The Nature of Love
Release poster
FrenchSimple comme Sylvain
Directed by Monia Chokri
Written byMonia Chokri
Produced by Nancy Grant
Sylvain Corbeil
Starring Magalie Lépine-Blondeau
Pierre-Yves Cardinal
Cinematography André Turpin
Edited by Pauline Gaillard
Music byÉmile Sornin
Production
company
Metafilms
Distributed byMK2 Films
Release date
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

The Nature of Love ( French: Simple comme Sylvain) is a 2023 Canadian romantic comedy-drama film directed by Monia Chokri. [2]

The film had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2023. [1] [3]

Plot

University professor Sophia has a comfortable life and a stable but unexciting marriage to Xavier. That is upended when she meets and is attracted to Sylvain, a blue-collar construction contractor whom the couple hires to renovate their summer home. [4]

Cast

Production

Production on the film was first announced in fall 2022. [6]

Release

The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2023. [1] [2]

Critical response

Catherine Bray of Variety praised the film, writing that "The film is impeccably cast. As Sophia, Magalie Lépine Blondeau (whom Chokri first directed ten years ago in her hugely successful short An Extraordinary Person) is wonderful, gifted with great comic timing and a particular knack for telegraphing that sense of someone who knows they’re making a huge mistake, but are compelled to go ahead and make it anyway. That’s handy, since it is perhaps the character’s defining trait. But it’s hard to imagine Blondeau’s role working as well as it does without the right actor as Sylvain, the kind of guy whose compulsive sexual charm is enough, by itself, to swamp every other more cautious instinct. Luckily, Cardinal has form here, having previously sizzled in Xavier Dolan’s Tom at the Farm, as the burly agricultural man’s man to Dolan’s fashionable city boy. Call it screen presence, magnetism, charisma — Cardinal has it." [7]

Savina Petkova of Cineuropa wrote that "Even if The Nature of Love can’t shake off the pessimistic thought that all instances of a heterosexual, monogamous love life are doomed to repeat the same cycle of infatuation/marriage/depletion of desire, it offers a special, nuanced take on love and what love can be. It even suggests a canon of studies on romance – a topic equally neglected in philosophy and ethics – with quotes by the likes of Plato, bell hooks and Vladimir Jankélévitch, but without being didactic in any way. Overall, Chokri’s new film is as confident as its protagonist, a woman who knows how to articulate her desires, to surrender and to leave them behind, when it feels right.” [8]

Maxance Vincent of InSession Film wrote that the movie is "one of the funniest and most heartbreaking movies you’ll see all year, and it cements Chokri as one to watch as a daring auteur who never made the same film twice and will seemingly continue pushing the boundaries of what modern Québec cinema can – and should – be." [9]

Accolades

Award / Film Festival Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Cannes Film Festival May 26, 2023 Un Certain Regard Monia Chokri Nominated [2]
Queer Palm Nominated [10]
Whistler Film Festival December 3, 2023 Best Cinematography in a Borsos Competition Film André Turpin Won [11]
Prix collégial du cinéma québécois April 5, 2024 Best Film Monia Chokri Nominated [12]
César Awards 23 February 2024 Best Foreign Film The Nature of Love Won [13]
Canadian Screen Awards May 2024 Best Lead Performance in a Comedy Film Magalie Lépine-Blondeau Pending [14]
Best Original Screenplay Monia Chokri Pending
Best Cinematography André Turpin Pending
Best Editing Pauline Gaillard Pending

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Screenings Guide of the 76th Festival de Cannes" (PDF). festival-cannes.com. 10 May 2023. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Simple comme Sylvain, de Monia Chokri, ira à Cannes". Ici Radio-Canada, April 13, 2023.
  3. ^ "Monia Chokri's Cannes, London Title 'The Nature of Love' Snapped Up by Vertigo for U.K., Ireland (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  4. ^ Marc-André Lussier, "Monia Chokri de retour au Festival de Cannes". La Presse, April 13, 2023.
  5. ^ "« Simple comme Sylvain » de Monia Chokri au Festival de Cannes dans la section Un Certain Regard". CTVM, April 13, 2023.
  6. ^ Éric Lavallée, "An Affair to Remember: Magalie Lépine Blondeau Toplines Monia Chokri’s 'Simple Comme Sylvain'". Ion Cinema, October 7, 2022.
  7. ^ Catherine Bray, "‘The Nature of Love’ Review: Monia Chokri’s Delightful New Film Asks What Happens If You Scratch the Seven-Year Itch". Variety, May 18, 2023.
  8. ^ Savina Petkova, "Review: The Nature of Love". Cineuropa, May 22, 2023.
  9. ^ Maxance Vincent, "Movie Review: The Nature of Love Sets Monia Chokri Apart". InSession Film, September 26, 2023.
  10. ^ Florian Ques (May 4, 2023). "Festival de Cannes : voici les films en lice pour la Queer Palm 2023". Têtu (in French). Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  11. ^ Taimur Sikander Mirza, "Atikamekw Suns wins best Canadian feature at WFF". Playback, December 5, 2023.
  12. ^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "Les finalistes du 13e PCCQ". Films du Québec, January 11, 2024.
  13. ^ Barat, Mathilde (23 February 2024). "César 2024: Anatomie d'une chute sacré meilleur film. Le palmarès complet de la 49e cérémonie". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  14. ^ "BlackBerry Leads CSA Nominations". Northern Stars, March 6, 2024.

External links

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